Episode 137 (4th April 1962)
Plot Len only has some plastering still to do at No.11 but gives Elsie short shrift when she asks him to finish off. With Ena on the mend, no one has visited her except for Minnie and Martha. Concepta volunteers to go see her and Jack gives her a bottle of beer to take as a gift. Len makes a private call from the Rovers and is short with Jack when he offers to help him look up the number in the phone book. Minnie and Martha smuggle a bottle of milk stout into the hospital in a bunch of plastic tulips. Ena reveals her locker full of bottles - the patients are allowed one a day on the NHS and the rest of the ward are teetotal. Minnie puts Concepta's bottle in with her stash. Len keeps to himself in the Rovers. Ken works late into the night on his novel. Elsie gives Len her key to finish the plastering at No.11 as she's on her way out when he gets there. Ena thinks Elsie is after Len and is shocked when the woman in question visits her, worried about her condition. Florrie looks over Elsie's new fireplace as she's thinking of getting Len to install one at the shop. Minnie and Martha buy Ena a budgie called Archie as a welcome home present. Florrie isn't sure about using Len as it could damage her reputation. Len finishes at No.11 and decamps to the Rovers where he gets drunk on double whiskys. He flies off the handle when a worried Harry asks if anything's wrong. After closing time, Len admits to Harry that Nellie left home this morning and took Stanley with her. Cast Regular cast *Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix *Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson *Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth *Annie Walker - Doris Speed *Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie *Concepta Hewitt - Doreen Keogh *Harry Hewitt - Ivan Beavis *Ena Sharples - Violet Carson *Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant *Martha Longhurst - Lynne Carol *Frank Barlow - Frank Pemberton *Kenneth Barlow - William Roache *Florrie Lindley - Betty Alberge Guest cast None Places *Coronation Street *Rovers Return Inn - Public/Snug and hallway *11 Coronation Street - Back room *Glad Tidings Mission Hall - Vestry *St Mark's Hospital - Ward C4 Notes *The day prior to the transmission of this episode, on 3rd April 1962, the Equity actors' strike was called off. Although it would take until 23rd April before another of the regular cast reappeared, Granada could now start planning storylines which did not just revolve around the core cast of thirteen. *Minnie Caldwell tells Ena Sharples that she got the idea of smuggling the milk stout into the hospital from a James Bond. At the time that this episode was broadcast nine of Ian Fleming's novels had been published but the first film, Dr. No, wouldn't be released until just over six months later on 5th October 1962. *''TV Times'' synopsis: While Ena's old friends and neighbours continue to wait for more news from the hospital, talk grows among the other residents about Len Fairclough's decorating work at Elsie Tanner's. But when closing time is called at the Rover's Len learns he has more to fear than gossip. He tells Harry about a shock from home. *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 8,054,000 homes (2nd place). Notable dialogue Elsie Tanner: "They've bin talkin' about me, love, ever since I put on me first pair o' nylons." Category:1962 episodes